Things turn out fine for Palatine in opener vs. Wheeling

The meet official strode up to Palatine boys swim coach John Schauble, shook his hand and complimented him on all the speed his team seems to possess.

Schauble's reaction?

"We need to spend a lot more times on starts and turns," he said, almost glumly.

Uh, coach? Your squad just dispatched Wheeling 107-78 in its first Mid-Suburban League dual meet of the 2015-16 season. Doesn't that count for something?

"We're in fairly good shape after two weeks," Schauble admitted, "but our starts and turns … we've got to do a lot more coaching. We've got to spend a lot more time (on that)."

The Pirates won seven events Friday, placing 1-2 in a pair of them, en route to the victory over a strong bunch from Wheeling. The Wildcats were led by senior Nate Reiff, who came from behind to win the 200-meter free (2:01.48) and then held off Palatine's Alex Bartosik to do the same in the 100 breast (1:09.89). Reiff also led off Wheeling's winning 200 free relay (1:45.12).

Palatine countered with four different individual event winners: junior Bartosik in the 200 individual medley (2:14.33); senior Jordan Kalina in the 100 butterfly (1:02.24); senior Marcus Carter-Buckman in the 100 free (55.73); and sophomore Jacob Klein in the 400 free (4:25.38).

Kalina, Carter-Buckman and Bartosik also teamed with senior Oleksiy Korniychuk to start the meet with a win in the 200 medley relay (1:53.60). A couple of hours later, Klein, Carter-Buckman, Korniychuk and Bartosik ended it with a comfortable victory in the 400 free relay (3:43.92).

But even Carter-Buckman agreed with his coach that there's plenty of work to do. And it's no surprise what areas need attention.

"Right now, I think we're going to focus on getting quick in and out of turns and better starts," the senior co-captain said.

Reiff, a Wheeling co-captain, had a strong supporting cast Friday. There was fellow senior Kyle Noel, who won the 50 free in 25.20, and his senior brother Jake Noel, who did likewise in the 100 backstroke (1:01.24). Reiff, Kyle Noel, Nick Konstantos and senior Justin Loquercio also pooled their resources to win the 200 free relay in 1:45.12.

Wheeling continues to improve through coach Tod Schrager's strategy of building around seniors Reiff, Loquercio and the Noel brothers.

"I've had Nate, Justin, Kyle and Jake for awhile," Schrager said, "four seniors that took relays to state last year, so it's great to come back to that. They bring their work, effort and attitude to practice, and I think that's been feeding through the team which is helping bring the guys up a little more, and hopefully will help the program continue once their gone."

"We have a lot of potential," agreed Reiff, who was involved in one of the more exciting races of the day, coming from behind in the last lap to win the 200 free by .16 of a second over Klein. "There's a lot of kids that I didn't think would be competing as well as they did today."

Rolling Meadows d. Conant: The Mustangs started their season with a 104-81 victory over the visiting Cougars.

Filip Pancerz won both the 100-yard back (58.56) and 100 fly (56.35) and Josh Dellorto took the 200 (1:50.31) and 500 (5:04.98) freestyles to lead the way. Pancerz and Dellorto teamed with David Myers and Jake Pors to win both freestyle relays.

Conant's Tim Song won the 100 breast (1:06.88), and the Cougars got a terrific winning diving score from Cole Aykroid (257.25).

Buffalo Grove d. Schaumburg: The visiting Bison opened up with a victory, using victories in the medley and 400-meter free relays and a 1-2 diving finish from Jack Delattre (246.80) and Matt Misch (167.95) as keys.

Schaumburg's Evan Wahlen took top honors in both the 200- and 400 freestyles; Tyler Reynolds (200 IM) and Sam Thomas (breaststroke) also each won a race and finished second in another as well.

BG had winning efforts in the sprint freestyles from Mark Poirier (50, 26.25) and 100 free (Ryan Lawson, 1:00.62) and from Kenneth Velu in the 100 back (1:15.52).

Prospect d. Hersey: The host Knights were able to sweep the relays and got a stellar diving score from Anthony Liva (259.95) in a 132-48 victory over the Hawks.

Nick Partipilo, Matt Inserra and Jacob Kosinski had legs on two of Prospect's relays. Individual winners for the Knights included Alex Morikado (200 IM), Alex Jarosz (500 free), and Ryan Lakner (100 back). Partipilo and Inserra also won events.

Hoffman Estates got victories from Andy Hobar in the 200 free and 100 fly.

Fenwick d. St. Viator, St. Rita: The Friars won with 291 points to 202 for the Lions and 66 for the Mustangs.

St. Viator got terrific early swims from Mitchell Warren, who won the 200-yard IM in 2:07.27, and Michael Balcerak, tops in the 100 fly in 51.58.

Balcerak also split 21.95 leading off the 200 free relay and 47.78 leading off the 500 free relay, and Ben Peinsipp took second in the 50 free in 23.62.

Other top swims included Michael Ruben's third in the 100 free (55.22) and Hunter Reed's fourth in the 100 breast (1:12.72).

Fremd d. Elk Grove: The Vikings got strong performances across the board in picking up a 150-27 win against the host Grens on Thursday.

Winners for the Vikings included Arnas Maciunas (200-yard IM, 2:06.10), Yoochan Lee (50 free, 23.01), Nick Seroni (100 fly, 53.91), Pranith Bottu (100 free, 52.97), Dylan Assmann (100 back, 59.18) and Alex Schillinger (500 free, 5:21.03 and 100 breast, 1:04.43).